Mediating role of cognitive biases, resilience and depressive symptoms in the relationship between childhood trauma and psychotic-like experiences in young adults.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to test a hypothetical model where causally linked and ordered cognitive biases, resilience and depressive symptoms serve as mediators of the relationship between early traumatic life events and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in the general population of young adults. METHODS: Two thousand six hundred and fourteen people (1673 females) took part in the online survey. Participants completed self-report questionnaires measuring exposure to early traumatic life events, PLEs, cognitive biases, resilience and depressive symptoms. Correlation and multiple mediation analyses were performed. RESULTS: All three mediators turned out to be significantly correlated with early trauma, PLEs and with each other. Mediational analysis demonstrated that hypothesized model of causally linked mediators was significant (P ≤ .001) and accounted for 33% (P < .001) of the explained variance in PLEs in comparison to 11% (P ≤ .001) without mediators. CONCLUSIONS: First, our results provide evidence for significant associations between early traumatic life events, cognitive biases, depressive symptoms, psychological resilience and PLEs. Second, they indicate significant indirect effects of early trauma exposure on PLEs through a path consisted of cognitive biases, psychological resilience and depressive symptoms that suggest a possible importance of interventions bolstering resilience in young people in order to minimize the severity of depressive and psychotic psychopathology.

Resilience and cognitive biases mediate the relationship between early exposure to traumatic life events and depressive symptoms in young adults.

BACKGROUND: Early trauma is an important risk factor for depression. However, little is known about the mechanisms of how traumatic life events shape the risk of depression. The present study focused on the mediating role of cognitive biases and mental resilience between early trauma and depressive symptoms in young men and women. METHODS: 2218 non-clinical young adults completed an online Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI). It comprised selected items from several questionnaires including: a short version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D, five items) questionnaire, the Traumatic Experience Checklist (TEC, three items) and the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA.Q, three items), a short version (nine items) of Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS-18), the abridged version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10). Parallel mediation analyses were performed. The role of gender was considered. RESULTS: A significant standardized indirect effect of childhood trauma on depressive symptoms through cognitive biases and resilience was found in the total sample. A standardized direct effect of childhood traumatic life events on depressive symptoms remained also significant, meaning that mediation is complementary. An analysis by gender showed similar results for women and men. LIMITATIONS: Sample was limited to non-clinical young adults. The questionnaires were shortened, and items were selected arbitrarily due to the nature of the study (online screening). The data may include biases resulting from the use of self-report scales. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive biases and resilience are important, but not exclusive, mechanisms of the relationship between early trauma and depressive symptoms.

Differences in subjective quality of life of people with a schizophrenia diagnosis between participants in Occupational Therapy Workshops and those working in a Sheltered Employment Establishment. / Róznice w subiektywnej jakosci zycia osób z diagnoza schizofrenii pomiedzy uczestnikami Warsztatów Terapii Zajeciowej a osobami pracujacymi w Zakladzie Pracy Chronionej.

OBJECTIVES: The research objective was to compare the course of illness among patients with schizophrenia undergoing rehabilitation in Occupational Therapy Workshops (OTW) or employed in the Vocational Development Center "Pensjonat u Pana Cogito" (VDC), with particular focus on quality of life (QoL), and to analyse the relations between QoL and general, social, and cognitive functioning, psychopathological condition and insight in the two groups. METHODS: The sample comprised 52 subjects (VDC = 25 and OT = 27). The following tools were used: the LQoLP (for quality of life assessment) by Oliver, the PANSS, GAF, and SOFAS scales, the MoCA, RAVLT and RHLB cognitive tests, and the insight questionnaire "My thoughts and feelings". RESULTS: Differences were found between the groups, to the VDC group's advantage, in such areas of subjective QoL as: family relationships (p . 0.05), somatic health (p . 0.05) and selfesteem (p . 0.05). In the VDC group, QoL correlated negatively with symptoms of distress and positively with overall insight into symptoms, while in the OTW group it correlated negatively with cognitive function and positively with insight as a reaction to information from others. CONCLUSIONS: For people with schizophrenia obtaining and retaining employment in a VDC translates into better outcomes in important areas of quality of life such as family relationships, overall health, and self-esteem. Poorer QoL was associated with the severity of symptoms, in particular depressive symptoms. People employed in the VDC benefited to a greater extent from autonomous control of symptoms, while among the OTW group an important role was played by others.

A combination of self-disturbances and psychotic-like experiences. A cluster analysis study on a non-clinical sample in Poland.

We aimed to perform a cluster analysis to investigate the group structure of a combination of psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and self-disturbances in a non-clinical sample. Non-clinical adults (n = 677) were assessed with the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), the Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS) and the Inventory of Psychotic-Like Anomalous Self-Experiences (IPASE). Cluster analysis was conducted based on the positive and negative dimension of CAPE and a total score of IPASE. Four distinct groups were revealed by the cluster analysis. The High Profile group had the highest means, and the Low Profile had the lowest scores of positive and negative subscales of the CAPE and IPASE. The Positive Profile group had a significantly higher level of self-disturbances (in 'Cognition', 'Consciousnesses and 'Somatization' dimensions) from participants with the 'Negative Profile'. The High Profile group had more cognitive biases (i.e., inadequate cognitive inference about internal and external events) related to psychosis as assessed with DACOBS, had the highest means on each IPASE subscale and had a higher level of emotional distress. A combination of high level of PLEs and self-disturbances may capture the highest risk of psychosis in the general population associated with cognitive biases characteristic for psychosis.

Mental rotation task in bipolar disorder. / Test rotacji mentalnych w chorobie afektywnej dwubiegunowej.

OBJECTIVES: Bipolar disorder (BD) significantly affects level of cognitive and motor functioning. Studies on cognitive function in BD shows i.a. deficits in visuospatial processing and visuospatial memory. However, studies have not used Mental Rotation Task to evaluate these functions so far. Our aim is to introduce this method to assess abovementioned deficits in euthymic BD patients. METHODS: 31 euthymic BD patients and 27 healthy volunteers matched for age and years of education were recruited. All participants performed digital version of Mental Rotation Task. In this task, participants were asked to compare two figures rotated against each other and declare its similarity or difference indicating whether the figures are identical or whether they constitute their own mirror image. RESULTS: The test revealed significantly longer reaction times in the group of BD patients when images were rotated by - 90, - 45, 45, 90 degrees, or not rotated at all. There was no significant difference in condition of - 135, 135 or 180 degrees. The accuracy rate was significantly lower in the patient group than in the control group for the entire test and in each condition. The correlation between the average response time and the accuracy rate turned out to be insignificant. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with studies presenting visuospatial deficits in bipolar disorder. In this study we show for the first time that mental rotation deficits are present in euthymic state of BD patients.

Profiles of empathic sensitivity in students of the last year of medicine.

Developing the empathic attitude is one of the tasks of medical education as it affects the quality of therapeutic contact in the relationship between the doctor and the participant, conditioning the treatment process. According to Davis's concept, empathy is defined as an affective-cognitive reaction in the context of the other person's experience. AIM: Analysis of profiles of empathic sensitivity in students of medicine. Group: Male and female students of the fifth year of medicine who agreed to participate in an anonymous study (n = 153; M = 57, F = 96; mean age: 23 years). Tools: The Empathetic Sensitivity Scale (EES), which is the Polish tool for Davis's Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) was used. The ESS includes three sub-scales: Empathic Care (EC), Personal Distress (PD) and Adopting Perspective (AP). RESULTS: The raw results were converted into sten scores and for sten scores for all three dimensions of empathetic sensitivity no differences were found between male and female students. Three clusters (1: n = 33%, 2: n = 39%, 3: n = 28%), which differ in terms of each distinguished indicator, were identified. CONCLUSIONS: The first cluster characterizes empathetic people, both in the affective and cognitive spheres, and those dealing well with unpleasant emotions in situations difficult to others. The second cluster characterizes participants with the ability to recognize the needs of others and to take into account their perspectives; the third cluster includes participants with a tendency to focus on own experiences emerging in response to other people's suffering but with the ability to understand a situation and show empathic concern for the other person. The most favourable profile - for a future doctor as well as for his participants - is the first cluster because the doctor, with his empathic sensitivity directed towardsthe other man, can deal with his own unpleasant emotions.

Associations between chronotype, sleep disturbances and seasonality with fatigue and inflammatory bowel disease symptoms.

Growing number of studies suggests link between circadian rhythms and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) manifestation. We hypothesize that: 1) IBD are associated with increased eveningness and sleep disturbances; 2) eveningness and sleep disturbances are related to more severe IBD symptoms. In total, 129 participants were enrolled to this study, divided into three groups: 34 Crohn's disease (CD) patients, 38 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and 57 healthy controls (HC) group. They all fulfilled a questionnaire, consisting of the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM), Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) and Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI). Multiple regression models controlled for age and sex revealed that in CD group higher eveningness measured with CSM was associated with higher general fatigue, physical fatigue, mental fatigue and reduced motivation measured by MFI. Lower CSM morning affect is associated with greater general fatigue, physical fatigue and more reduced activity. Greater seasonality scores are associated with increased physical fatigue and more reduced activity and motivation. Lower sleep quality measured with PSQI is associated with higher physical fatigue and more reduced activity. Correlational analysis revealed that higher seasonality and lower sleep quality are associated with increased systemic and bowel symptoms and decreased emotional and social functions measured with IBDQ. In UC group, eveningness is associated with greater general fatigue, physical fatigue and more reduced activity. Higher CSM morning affect is associated with decreased general fatigue, physical fatigue and less reduced activity. Higher CSM circadian preference scores are associated with decreased general and physical fatigue, and less reduced activity. Increased seasonality is associated with more physical fatigue. Lower sleep quality is associated with greater general and physical fatigue. To our best knowledge this is the first study evaluating associations between chronotype and sleep disturbances with IBD symptoms. We have found that chronotype preferences, whose role in IBD has been until now overlooked, may be one of the important factors contributing to fatigue in this clinical group.

The role of affective temperaments assessed by the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) in the relationship between morningness-eveningness and bipolarity.

BACKGROUND: Growing number of studies indicates a link between eveningness chronotype, affective temperaments and bipolarity, both in patients with mood disorders and in general population. Given these tripartite associations, we hypothesized that the effect of circadian preferences on the bipolarity may be mediated by the temperamental traits. METHODS: The study included 1449 subjects (402 men and 1047 women). They all fulfilled a web-based questionnaire, consisting of the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM), Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), Hypomania Checklist-32 (HCL-32) and the Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A). The role of temperamental traits in the relationship between morningness-eveningness and bipolarity was assessed using mediation analysis. RESULTS: Morningness is correlated with lower bipolarity measured by the MDQ and HCL-32, and to lower scores of depressive, cyclothymic, irritable and anxious temperaments of the TEMPS-A. There is no significant association between morningness and hyperthymic traits. Cyclothymic and irritable traits are full mediators of the association between chronotype and bipolarity, influencing bipolarity independently from circadian preferences. Depressive and anxious traits are partial mediators of this association, increasing the effect of eveningness on bipolarity. LIMITATIONS: The indirectness of the findings in the web-based study and disproportion of participants' gender. CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirmed that eveningness is associated with bipolarity. In case of depressive and anxious temperaments, bipolarity is associated stronger with eveningness than with the TEMPS-A scores. On the other hand, cyclothymic and irritable temperaments were associated with bipolarity independently from circadian preferences.

Dyadic Adjustment among Healthy Spouses of Bipolar I and II Disorder Patients.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to investigate the total dyadic adjustment (including satisfaction, cohesion, consensus and affectional expression) among spouses of bipolar patients with I and II subtypes. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 82 subjects (46 women/ 36men) were enrolled in the study - 50 spouses of bipolar I (BD I) patients and 32 spouses of bipolar II (BD II) patients. We used an interview, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), and a questionnaire including questions concerning basic socio-demographic data, the duration of marriage, as well as information about the patient's illness. RESULTS: The results indicate that BD I is likely to be more disruptive for life-partners and is associated with a lower dyadic adjustment (assessed by the healthy spouse) than BD type II (p≤0.05). There are differences in DAS scales when specific episodes are compared with each other as well (p≤0.01). Also patients' illicit substance use and co-morbidity were significant factors (p≤0.01). CONCLUSIONS: We would like to emphasize that bipolar disorder affects marriage (even the healthy spouse) and that its different subtypes (especially type I) as well as additional factors may be associated with significant deterioration of a relationship.

Morningness-eveningness and affective temperaments assessed by the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A).

Chronotype is a stable trait presenting one's circardian preference. Since chronotype disturbances are common in patients with affective disorders, our aim is to evaluate chronotypes related to affective temperaments, measured with the temperament evaluation of Memphis, Pisa and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A). The study included 618 subjects (151 men and 467 women) within the framework of web-based design. They all fulfilled a questionnaire, consisting of the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM), Sleep Wake Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SWPAQ), and the TEMPS-A scale. Multiple regression models revealed that after controlling for age and gender: irritable and cyclothymic temperaments were negatively associated with total CSM score, CSM morning affect and circadian preference components, Sleepability (S), Vigilance (V), Wakeability (W) and positively with Morningness (M) and Eveningness (E) subscales of SWPAQ; anxious temperament was negatively associated with total CSM scores, CSM morning affect and with S, V, W subscales of SWPAQ; depressive temperament was negatively associated with Falling asleep, S, V, W subscales of SWPAQ; hyperthymic temperament was positively associated with CSM morning affect and V, W and negatively with M subscales of SWPAQ. The results show distinctiveness of the associations between hyperthymic temperament and circadian preferences, compared to all other TEMPS-A temperaments (depressive, cyclothymic, irritable and anxious). In the CMS scale, only hyperthymic temperament was related to morning affect. In the SWPAQ scale, hyperthymic temperament was the only one associated with earlier morningness (earlier wake up time preference), increased parameters of vigor - wakeability, vigilance, and also the only one not associated with decreased plasticity of circadian rhythm (sleepability and falling asleep). Results also point to some similarities between cyclothymic and irritable temperaments in some aspects of the chronotype.

Neurological and cerebellar soft signs do not discriminate schizophrenia from bipolar disorder patients.

Patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) share subtle motor abnormalities called the neurological soft signs (NSS). Since in both diseases there is evidence for alterations in cerebellar functions, structure and connectivity, we expected that the cerebellar soft signs (CSS), analogue of NSS focusing strictly on cerebellar symptoms, would be also a common trait in SZ and BD. We examined 30 patients with BD, 30 patients with SZ and 28 control subjects using the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES, for NSS) and International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS, for CSS). SZ and BD did not differ in total and subscales' scores in both NES and ICARS. Subscale analysis revealed that SZ performed significantly worse than controls in all the subscales of both NES and ICARS. BD patients scored significantly worse than controls in all NES subscales and in oculomotor and kinetic subscales of the ICARS, while other ICARS subscales did not differentiate those two groups. To our knowledge this is the first study to show that CSS constitute common symptoms in BD and SZ. We recommend a special focus on those diseases in further research regarding structural and functional changes of cerebellum and their clinical outcome.

A web-based study of bipolarity and impulsivity in athletes engaging in extreme and high-risk sports.

BACKGROUND: We hypothesised that men and women who engage in extreme or high-risk sports would score higher on standardised measures of bipolarity and impulsivity compared to age and gender matched controls. METHODS: Four-hundred and eighty extreme or high-risk athletes (255 males and 225 females) and 235 age-matched control persons (107 males and 128 females) were enrolled into the web-based case-control study. The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) were administered to screen for bipolarity and impulsive behaviours, respectively. RESULTS: Results indicated that extreme or high-risk athletes had significantly higher scores of bipolarity and impulsivity, and lower scores on cognitive complexity of the BIS-11, compared to controls. Further, there were positive correlations between the MDQ and BIS-11 scores. CONCLUSION: These results showed greater rates of bipolarity and impulsivity, in the extreme or high-risk athletes, suggesting these measures are sensitive to high-risk behaviours.

Bipolar spectrum features in obese individuals.

UNLABELLED: AIM : The relationships between obesity and bipolar spectrum disorders (BSD) are unclear. Thus, the aim of our study were to approximate the prevalence of soft bipolar features in patients seeking treatment for obesity. METHODS: We performed a nested case-control study (cases: 90 patients with the mean BMI=38.1±7.0 [range: 30.1-62.5]; controls: 70 healthy volunteers with the mean BMI=21.6±2.1 [range: 18.5-24.9]). The participants were screened for the BSD symptoms with the Mood Disorder Questionnaire. RESULTS: Patients with obesity were significantly more likely to score ≥7 pts. on the MDQ 25.6% vs. 8.6%; p=0.01). In comparison to non-obese individuals, the obese patients scored significantly higher in MDQ section I and on the MDQ items referring to the 'irritability-racing thoughts' dimension of hypomania. The multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that obesity had been significantly related to the odds of obtaining ≥7 pts. on the MDQ section 1 (odds ratio [OR] = 2.07; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17-3.63), and marginally significantly related to experiencing periods of 'ups' and 'downs'(OR = 1.67; 95% CI: 1.00-2.81). CONCLUSIONS: Our study adds to previous suggestions that obesity may be significantly related to the BSD. However, the clinical implications of this finding need to be determined in further studies, performed in accordance with the paradigm of evidence based medicine (EBM).

Caregiving burden and psychological distress among spouses of bipolar patients - comparative analysis of subtype I and II.

AIM: To assess the level of caregiving burden and psychological distress among spouses of bipolar disorder - BD (type I and II) patients. METHODS: 77 subjects (41 women and 36 men) were enrolled in the study - 44 spouses of bipolar I (BD I) patients and 33 spouses of bipolar II (BD II). The whole group was divided into 4 subgroups: (I) the wives of BD I patients: n=27, (II) the husbands of BD I patients: n=17, (III) the wives of BD II patients: n=14, (IV) the husbands of BD II patients: n=19. The research methods: Involvement Evaluation Questionnaire - IEQ and General Health Questionnaire - GHQ-12. RESULTS: Manic phase of BD I is more burdensome than episodes of depressed mood (BD I) and hypomania (BD II). Depression in BD II results in a significantly greater burden than hypomania. Spouses of BD I patients experience a higher level of burden. Women are generally more burdened with the patient care regardless of the episode. Partners of bipolar patients (type I and II) experience the same high level of psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: The specific types of bipolar disorder (I and II) have the different impact on partners, which affects their subjective and objective burden and relationship with patients, indicating a real need to offer them an adequate help, depending on subtype of patient's bipolar disorder, as well as the spouse sex.

Implicit motor learning in bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVES: A growing number of publications describe cerebellar abnormalities in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). The aim of the following paper was to examine the functional aspects of that issue by focusing on implicit learning - a cognitive function with significant cerebellar underpinnings. METHODS: 27 patients with BD and 26 healthy controls (HC), matched for age and sex took part in the study. Implicit motor learning was assessed by the serial reaction time task (SRTT), in which participants were unconsciously learning a sequence of motor reactions. The indicators of procedural learning were the decrease of reaction time (RT) across the repetition of the sequence and the rebound of RT when the sequence changed into a random set of stimuli. RESULTS: BD patients did not present any indicators of the implicit learning, their RT increased across repetitions of the sequence and it decreased when the sequence changed to random. Contrary, in the control group RT decreased across the sequence repetitions and increased when the stimuli begun to appear randomly. LIMITATIONS: A low subject count and a non-drug naïve patients group, medicated with atypical antipsychotic and mood stabilizers, are the most significant limitations of this study. CONCLUSIONS: BD patients did not acquire procedural knowledge while performing the task, whereas HC did. To our knowledge this is the first study that shows the impairment of implicit motor learning in patients with BD. This indicates the possible cerebellar dysfunction in this disease and may provide a new neuropsychiatric approach to bipolar disorder.

Temperamental dimensions of the TEMPS-A in male and female subjects engaging in extreme or/and high risk sports.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated temperamental dimensions of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) as well as bipolarity features in male and female subjects engaging in extreme or/and high risk sports. METHODS: The web-based case-control study was performed in 480 subjects engaging in extreme or/and high risk sports (255 male, 225 female) aged 26 ± 6 years and in 235 age- and sex-matched healthy controls subjects (107 male, 128 female), aged 28 + 9 years. The TEMPS-A questionnaire, 110 questions version, has been used, evaluating five temperament domains: depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable and anxious. The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) was employed for the assessment of bipolarity. RESULTS: Both male and female athletes had significantly higher scores of hyperthymic temperaments compared with control male and female subjects who had declared themselves as not involved into the activities of extreme or/and high risk sports. In addition, compared with controls, male sportsmen had lower scores of depressive and anxious temperaments, and female athletes had higher scores of cyclothymic and irritable temperaments. Both male and female athletes obtained significantly higher scores of bipolarity as measured by the MDQ, than control men and women. LIMITATIONS: Web-based study involving a risk of selection and recall bias, problematic homogeneity of the experimental group. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects engaged into extreme or/and high risk sports have significantly higher scores of hyperthymic temperament, measured by the TEMPS-A and present sex-specific features of other temperaments. Such subjects obtain also greater bipolarity scores as measured by the MDQ.

[Convergence insufficiency with unilateral exophoria at near in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder - a preliminary study]. / Niewydolnosc konwergencji z jednostronna egzoforia do blizy w schizofrenii i chorobie afektywnej dwubiegunowej - badania wstepne.

OBJECTIVES: The study describes an abnormal convergence symptom, i.e. unilateral exophoria at near, in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). The aim of this paper is to present the symptom and discuss its possible explanations. METHODS: 29 patients with SZ, 15 patients with BD and 20 healthy controls (HC) took part in the study. The neurological assessment was done with International Co-operative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS) and Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES). RESULTS: The abnormal vergence pattern was observed in 12 patients with SZ, 1 patient with BD and 0 HC. Symptom appeared statistically more often in SZ patients than in BD patients and HC. SZ patients with vergence symptom performed significantly worst in oculomotor and dysarthia subscores of ICARS. CONCLUSIONS: The symptom can be linked to disruptions in cortico-ponto-cerebellar network and midbrain. It was the only neurological symptom that differed SZ and BD groups, thus it might be used in differential diagnosis. Further research is needed to obtain a full clinical description of the symptom.

[The analysis of the bipolarity features in students of arts and the students of technology]. / Analiza cech dwubiegunowosci wsród studentów kierunków artystycznych oraz politechnicznych.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the research was to assess the prevalence of the bipolar spectrum features among students of a variety of faculties, by dividing them arbitrarily into 'art' or 'technology' cohorts. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 120 subjects were examined, including 57 students of arts, and 63 students of technology. The tools used included a basic socio-demographic questionnaire and the Hirschfeld Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ). RESULTS: The bipolar spectrum features (as identified by the MDQ responses) were significantly more prevalent among the students of arts, as compared to the students of technology (28.2% vs. 4.8%, p < or = 0.001; OR = 7.8; CI 95%: 2.13-28.51; p < 0.01). Moreover, in comparison to the students of technology, the students of arts were more likely to: 1) report mood patterns of intermittent 'highs' and 'lows' (49.1% vs. 15.9%, p < or = 0.0001; OR = 5.11; CI 95%: 2.18-11.99; p < or = 0.001); 2) seek for psychiatric or psychological support (12.3% vs. 1.5%; p < or = 0.05; OR = 5.2; CI 95%: 1.79-15.21; p < or = 0.01); 3) have a history of utilisation of psychotropic medications (31% vs. 7.9%, p < or = 0.001; OR = 8.7; CI 95%: 1.03-72.9; p < or = 0.05). They were also more likely to use psychoactive substances (other than alcohol). CONCLUSIONS: The considerable prevalence of the bipolarity features (as measured by the MDQ), combined with higher prevalence of intermittent periods of elevated or depressed mood, higher likelihood of seeking for psychiatric or psychological treatment, and higher prevalence of using psychoactive medications/substances in the cohort of the students of arts indicate a significant association between artistic talents and creativity, and the bipolar spectrum disorders.